Electrochemical Iodine-Mediated Oxidation of Enamino-Esters to 2H-Azirine-2-Carboxylates Supported by Design of Experiments

An electrochemical iodine-mediated transformation of enamino-esters for the synthesis of 2H-azirine-2-carboxylates is presented. In addition, a thermic conversion of azirines to 4-carboxy-oxazoles in quantitative yield without purification was described. Both classes 2H-azirines-2-carboxylates and the 4-carboxy-oxazoles are substructures in natural products and therefore are of considerable interest for synthetic and pharmaceutical chemists. The optimization was not performed in a conventional manner with a one-factor-at-a-time process but with a Design of Experiments (DoE) approach. Beside a broad substrate scope the reaction was also employed to a robustness screen, a sensitivity assessment, and complemented with mechanistic considerations from cyclic voltammetry experiments.     

Reaction of difluorocarbene with 2H-azirines: generation and transformations of strained azomethine ylides -- aziriniodifluoromethanides

The reaction of difluorocarbene with azirines affords a new type of azomethine ylides, viz., strained aziriniodifluoromethanides. 1,3-Dipolar cycloadditions of ylides derived from 2-unsubstituted 3-arylazirines to dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate and aldehydes give derivatives of 2,2-difluoro-1-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hex-3-ene-3,4-dicarboxylic acids and 1,4-oxazin-3(4H)-ones, respectively. Ylides derived from 2-mono- and 2,2-disubstituted azirines undergo isomerization to 2-aza-1,3-diene derivatives. 2,2-Difluoro-1-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hex-3-enes are transformed into 2-fluoropyridine derivatives in high yields and react with amines to give 2,4-diamino-1-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-ene derivatives.     

RhII‐Catalyzed [3+2] Cycloaddition of 2 H‐Azirines with N‐Sulfonyl‐1,2,3‐Triazoles

Rh^II‐catalyzed intermolecular [3+2] cycloaddition of 2 H‐azirines with N‐sulfonyl‐1,2,3‐triazoles is disclosed, in which a series of fully functionalized pyrroles is produced via rhodium azavinyl carbene intermediates. A distinct feature of this reaction is that the azavinyl carbene serves as a [2 C] equivalent, instead of as [1 C] or aza‐[3 C] synthons, which have been reported previously in cyclopropanations and [3+n] cycloadditions. Moreover, this methodology has also been successfully applied in the total synthesis of URB447 as well as the formal synthesis of Atorvastatin (Lipitor).     

Time-resolved resonance Raman and density functional study of an azirine intermediate in the 2-fluorenylnitrene ring-expansion reaction to form a dehydroazepine product

We report time-resolved resonance Raman spectra for the azirine intermediate produced in the 2-fluorenylnitrene ring-expansion reaction to form a dehydroazepine product. The Raman bands obtained with a 252.7 nm probe wavelength and 500 ns delay time exhibit reasonable agreement with predicted vibrational frequencies from density functional calculations for two isomers of azirine intermediates that may be formed from a 2-fluorenylnitrene precursor. The Raman bands observed for delay times of 15 ns and 10 micros were consistent with predicted vibrational frequencies from density functional calculations for the 2-fluorenylnitrene and dehydroazepine product species as well as previously reported 416 nm time-resolved Raman spectra obtained on the ns and micros time scales. Our results demonstrate that the 2-fluorenylnitrene ring-expansion reaction to produce dehydroazepine products proceeds via relatively long-lived 2-fluorenylnitrene and azirine intermediates. Substitution of a phenyl ring para to the nitrene group of phenylnitrene appears to lead to significant changes in the ring-expansion reaction so that longer lived arylnitrene and azirine intermediates can be observed. This should enable the chemical reactivity of azirine intermediates formed from arylnitrenes to be examined more readily.